6 So if we say we have fellowship with God, but we continue living in darkness, we are liars and do not follow the truth. 7 But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin. (1 John 1:6-7)
As we have seen, there are three themes that continue throughout this first epistle of John, relationship, fellowship and joy.
Today, we will entertain the question, how is it that we can have relationship with God and lack fellowship?
To begin, we must distinguish and understand the difference between relationship and fellowship. Relationship is becoming a member of the family of God, which is based upon our justification by faith in the finished work of the Jesus Christ on the cross. It is established by inviting Him to come into our lives and hearts. John makes that clear at the end of this letter. "He who has the Son has life [that is relationship]; but he who has not the Son of God has not life [he does not have a relationship]," (1 John 5:12). The Christian life starts right there with this matter of relationship.
Fellowship, on the other hand, is experiencing Christ. Fellowship works in concert with the Bible describes as Sanctification. Whereas, Justification is a one time event, Sanctification is a process whereby our soul (mind, will, and emotions) are being changed by the Lord Jesus Himself. One can not have fellowship until he has established relationship, but you can certainly have relationship without fellowship. Relationship puts us into the family of God, but fellowship permits the life of the family to shine out through us. Relationship means that all God has is potentially ours, but fellowship means we are actually drawing upon that, and His resources are visible in our experience. Relationship is possessing God; fellowship is God, possessing us. Fellowship is the key to vital Christianity. The important question is, as Christians are we enjoying fellowship with the Father and with his Son, experiencing all things in common together.
Now, there are three ways by which Believers miss out on fellowship with God.
If you look at the 1 John 1, you will see three times John uses the phrase, "if we say": v.6, "If we say we have fellowship," v.8, "If we say we have no sin," and v.10, "If we say we have not sinned."
Three times a profession is indicated (relationship), but the fellowship falls short of the profession. John says, If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)
This is a Believer in Christ who has established a relationship. He claims that the life of Jesus Christ is his in experience as well as in potential. But, John says, he does not live in a way that corresponds with his claim. He does not live according to the truth. His life is lacking the influence of the eternal which is what the scriptures refer to as "eternal life" or zoe in the Greek.
The Apostle writes, he is walking in darkness. When we walk in darkness, it is not the equivalent to sinning. We sin because we walk in darkness. Darkness is the absence of light. Wherever there is no light there is darkness. To walk in darkness means to walk as though there were no God, for God is light. When we turn off the light, the darkness rules. This is not a rare condition among believers. John starts with this problem because it is one of the most wide-spread problems with Believers.
So, what does walking in darkness look like? The writer of Hebrews warns us that there would be a tendency to do this as we draw near the close of the age. He says, "Do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together, as the manner of some is...," Hebrews 10:25).
Some people stop coming to church that effectively teaches the Word of God. The Word of God is a channel of God's light. The Word itself is light. It penetrates and searches, it seeks out our inner life and exposes it to us. If we stop avoid the light, there will be a growing effect, we are no longer made uncomfortable by the Word.
Another way that we do not experience "zoe" is to stop reading the Scriptures. The Word is light, but we refuse the light and we, subsequently, walk in darkness.
Another way is to never examine ourselves. We do not ask ourselves searching questions as to where we are in the Christian life. The Apostle Paul says, "Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith!" (2 Corinthians 13:5). One of the most serious problems among Christians is that we never admit that anything is going wrong, or that we have problems, or times when our faith is tested. We never tell anyone about these. Therefore we walk in darkness.
Remember, that darkness is the absence of light. To walk in the light is to have everything open, exposed to God, or to anyone else that is interested. But to walk in darkness is to talk about love and joy and power, but to live a lie. It is from fellowship, the sharing of the life of Christ, that there comes strength. To ignore light is to choose weakness. Now what is the answer?
John says, "walk in the light," that is the answer. In other words, not behaving perfectly, but examining ourselves, being willing to look at ourselves, listen seriously to what others say about us and ask ourselves how much truth is there in it, and not immediately grow defensive. If we take down our fences and our facades and open up to others, tell them what we are going through and encourage them to open up to us, admit our faults, this is walking in the light. As James puts it, "confess your faults, and pray one for another," James 5:16).
